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Tech-y Treasures
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RUTHAN BRODSKY
Special to The Jewish News
lectronic items top a lot of
-wish lists this season. But if
you're looking for that per- ..
fect gadget for your loved
ones, be forewarned...even the retailers
have trouble keeping up with the lat-
est high-tech wizardry in everything
from phones to cameras to interactive
toys. Industry and design changes
happen so quickly that the telephone
answering machine model you could
be looking for might be obsolete.
To help you make the right deci-
sion, we've interviewed some tech-
savvy people with expertise in the elec-
tronic industry.
Jeffrey J. Csatari, editor of Verge, a
new magazine geared to help educate
readers on purchasing high-tech
1 2/ 1 2
1997
14
equipment, says, "There's usually'
someone in the store who knows the
products and can explain what the
new models do. Find that person
when you want to buy something and
be sure to check out some of those
specialty catalogs which also feature all
sorts of electronic items."
Here's a rundown on the latest and
greatest:
Television Plus
"Anything to do with home enter-
tainment is a hot-ticket item," predicts
Csatari. "Web TVs that take the view-
er on-line without a computer, large
flat-screen TVs and Digital Video
Disk (DVD) players are the current
buzz words."
According to Csatari, one of the
hottest items this year is Web TV,
which allows you to search the
Internet sitting on the family room
sofa using the TV screen and not
bother with a PC. All that's needed is
a receiver box, a remote and a key-
board and the family can search the
Net together. Sony and Philips/
Magnavox models are priced for under
$300-$400 at Circuit City. Costs for
the Web TV service, at about $20 a
month for unlimited access, is proba-
bly less than the price of popcorn for
the entire family at the movies. RCA
also makes a WebTV receiver and a lot
more manufacturers plan to get into
the picture.
Smaller satellite dishes that provide
more programming and better recep-
tion also are expected to be big sellers
in television equipment this holiday.
The RadioShack Optimus 5100 sys-
tem and the Dual-LNB RCA system
DS 5450 are two of the best-selling
Digital Satellite Systems (DSS)
according to Al Nelson, a RadioShack
District Store Manager in training at •
the Lansing, Michigan store.
"They give great reception and TV
programming (210 channels) selection
with an 18-inch mini-dish antenna,
set-top receiver, VCR programming
and a universal remote that operates
most TVs and VCRs," explains
Nelson."
The Optimus sells for under $300
while the RCA Dual-LNB, selling at
under $500, allows you to connect to
another receiver for independent DSS
viewing in another room.
With additional Home Control
accessories, the third generation of
RCA's digital satellite TV system offers
even more convenience such as access
to local TV stations via a built-in,
over-the-air broadcast antenna. In this